BANGLADESH Source: FAO Fishstat dataset: Global Capture Production Bangladesh reports to FAO data on "Sharks, rays, skates, etc. nei" production starting from 2008 with an average of about 4,000 tonnes/year. year catches* 2009-10 4,044 (0.78) 2008-09 3,933 (0.76) 2007-08 4,767 (0.96) 2006-07 4,790 (0.98) 2005-06 4,448 (0.93) *In parenthesis the percentages of total marine catches (Source: Hoq et al. 2010). Commodity (average of 2006-2011) Import Shark fins, dried, salted, etc. 99 523 Sharks nei, fresh or chilled 0.16 0.16 0.6 0.6 Sharks nei, frozen 279 1,129 15.5 38 Total 378 1,652 0 38 Total all marine fisheries commodities 105,009 (0.0036%) 992,023 (0.0017%) 86,313 (0%) 29,698 (0.0013%) Source: FAO Fishstat dataset: estimates on shark commodities production and trade NPOA in preparation Sphyrna lewini S. zygaena S International waters * In 2000 the Government of Bangladesh established a Marine Reserve extending for 698 km 2 at Middle Ground and South Patches in the Bay of Bengal. Two Marine Parks have been established at St. Martin Island and in the Sundarban mangrove forest. Monofilament net (locally called as Current jal) are banned and the minimum mesh-size in gillnets is 60 mm. Forestry Act restricts harvesting of any sharks in and around the Sundarbans. Wildlife (Conservation & Protection) Act 2012 declared 25 species of sharks as protected animal, including them in Schedule I. for implementing the CITES Appendix II listings Lack of biological information, stock structure, nursery grounds and habitats of sharks and rays; Lack of adequate shark fisheries management - monitoring, control and surveillance (as a basis for NDFs); Lack of appropriate law in the 'Fish Act' for sustainable harvesting and conservation of the elasmobranchs. Amend 'Fish Act' introducing regulations for the sustainable management and conservation of the elasmobranchs: i) specify gear, area and seasonal restriction; ii) introduce regulation of minimum size at first capture for the main group of shark species caught; iii)adopt the rules of RFMOs related to finning; iv) restrict the catch of ornamental species (e.g. butterfly rays and electric rays); Prioritize capacity building on taxonomy of elasmobranchs; produce an easy pictorial key book; Collect catch data of sharks from industrial trawls; record catch data at least group wise (sharks, skates & rays); Improve knowledge of sharks and rays through research and fisheries monitoring; Initiate ecosystem-based research to understand nursery areas, migratory patterns and trophic relationships; Engage in consultation, dialogue with and support suggestions and declarations of CITES, CMS, RFMOs, PEW Environmental Group; Develop effective national and regional management measures (endorse NPOA and prepare RPOA) for CITES listed elasmobranchs. * Dept. of Fisheries statistics reflect no industrail catch; may be very insignificant amount
INDIA Commodity (average 2006-2011) Import Shark fillets nei, frozen 80 253 15 7.3 Shark fins, frozen 112 7 695 Sharks nei, fresh or chilled 11 35 Sharks nei, frozen 11 14 Total 216 (<0.1) 7 998 (0.3) 15 (<0.1) 7.3 (<0.1) Total all marine fisheries commodities 665 598 2 204 496 28 879 76 862 NPOA in preparation C. longimanus Sphyrna spp. Manta spp. TEMPORAL PRODUCT FORM PARTICIPATORY Protection of Rhincodon typus, Anoxypristis cuspidata, Carcharhinus hemiodon, Glyphis gangeticus, Glyphis glyphis, Himantura fluviatilis, Pristis microdon, Pristis zijsron, Rhynchobatus djiddensis and Urogymnus asperrimus. Oceanic whitetips not to be retained and to be released unharmed, to the extent practicable, when caught in association to IOTC regulated fisheries (Resolution IOTC 13/06 2013). There are a total of 33 marine Protected areas (MPAs) in India, covering about 6 271 km2. Ban on fishing for 47 days from April 15 to May 31st in East coast of India (both days inclusive) and from 15th June to July 31st in West coast of India (both days inclusive). Policy advisory on prohibition of "finning" of Shark fins in the sea, prohibit the removal of shark fins on board a vessel in the sea. Ministry of Environment and Forest (Wildlife Division) F. No 4-36/2013 WL, 21 August 2013. Different restriction on mesh sizes in the different Coastal States, and on certain seine nets, such as ring seines and pair trawlings. Zonation in Territorial Waters restricting operation of mechanized fishing vessels up to certain distance. Marine Protected Areas also provide entry restrictions for fishing. for implementing the Appendix II listings Difficulty to obtain fisheries data (catch, discards, effort) and life history parameters for the CITES listed species; Lack of data and information on utilization, marketing and trade of sharks and rays. Improve knowledge of sharks and rays through research and fisheries monitoring; Define the supply chains of the different products and derivatives of sharks and rays in trade.
INDONESIA Commodity (average 2006-2011) Import Shark fins, dried, unsalted, etc. 1 378 9 265 160 1 095 Shark fins, prepared or preserved 57 982 20 72 Sharks nei, frozen 1 435 2 407 122 587 Sharks, rays, skates, fresh or chilled, nei 241 168 Total 3 112 (3.3%) 12 824 (5.0%) 303 (0.1%) 1755 (0.7%) Total all marine fisheries commodities 932 194 2 536 815 232 997 238 929 NPOA YES (under revision) S C. longimanus Sphyrna spp. Manta spp. Full protection of manta rays (Decree of MMAF, No.4/2014). Oceanic whitetip shark not to be retained and to be released unharmed, to the extent practicable, when caught in association to IOTC regulated fisheries (Resolution IOTC 2013). Prohibited fishing for sharks and rays in all Marine Protected Areas designated by the MMAF (. 16.76 million hectares in 2014, MMAF, 2014) Prohibited fishing for sharks and rays in Raja Ampat waters, West Papua (District regulation No. 9/2012). The exported fins from Indonesia consist of many species of sharks, therefore customs officers have difficulty in distinguishing between shark fins from species-listed in appendix II CITES and other species of shark; Difficulty for custom officers to distinguish gill rakers from manta species that are already dried and combined with gill rakers from Mobula. Therefore, intensive trainings on identification shark fins and Manta gill rakers are urgently needed. Difficulty to conduct stock assessment for species listed in CITES when accurate catch data is still difficult to obtain. Still no specific regulation and mechanism for trade flows of the shark fins from species-listed in CITES. Ecotourism PRODUCT FORM Trawl operation has been prohibited in Indonesian waters since 1980 (Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture No.503/KPTS/UM/1980).. Prohibited finning in open oceanic fisheries (e.g. industrial tuna fisheries). As Contracting Party to IOTC and WCPFC, required to apply a 5% fin-to-body weight ratio for sharks on board vessels up to the first point of landing. Assistance in determining export quota from limited supporting data available; Improving shark assessment program for species-listed in CITES; More research on fisheries, life cycle and biology of shark and ray specieslisted in CITES are needed; Supports from other institutions other than the government (NGOs, international institutions, etc.) for population studies and intensive training of shark and ray species identification, shark fin and gill rakers identification due to the large area of this country.
MALAYSIA Commodity (average 2005-2011) Import Shark fins, dried, salted, etc. 34 190 70 298 Shark fins, prepared or preserved 302 1 207 1 910 5 030 Shark fins, salted and in brine but not dried or smoked 2 42 14 240 Sharks nei, fresh or chilled 0 0 0.2 0.7 Sharks nei, frozen 35 101 64 315 Total 374 (0.1%) 1 542 (0.2%) 2 059 (0.5%) 5 885 (0.8%) Total all marine fisheries commodities 280 990 755 720 411 248 715 383 NPOA YES Sphyrna lewini S. mokarran PRODUCT FORM Currently no specific-species management measures are in place for 2013 newly CITES listed sharks and manta rays. However, whale shark and all sawfishes were protected under two Acts namely Fisheries Act 1985; Fisheries (Control of Endangered Species of Fish) Regulations 1999, and International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008 (Act 686). Protection of breeding and nursery grounds of sharks and rays with bigsize anti-trawling artificial reefs (120 new AR sites implemented between 2006 2014). Fishing activities not allowed within Marine Parks and Marine Protected Areas (the country has over 50 MPAS, most of them of small size < 100 km2). Zoning system for fishing fleets established with a view to protect nursery areas and avoid conflict among fishers. Traditional fishing zone (Zone A) was extended from 5 nm to 8 nm from coastline effectively in 2014. Prohibited use of explosive, poison or pollutant, the use of electric shock, pair trawling and push nets. The locally known pukat pari, a drift net with a mesh size of more than 25.4 cm (10 inches), which was once used to catch large sized sharks and rays has been banned since 1990. Commercial gears such as trawlers and purse seine were prohibited to operate within 8 nm from coastline Finning is prohibited according to Section 8(b) Fisheries Act of 1985. Measure enforced in 2014. International trade were control under International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008 (Act 686). At present, Malaysia never allowed exportation of any CITES listed sharks, manta rays and sawfishes originated from Malaysia. Zero quotas were applied for export and import. Insufficient biological and ecological information; Low quality in the information and landing data for stock assessment; Insufficient socio-economic information and low quality data of fishers and traders: Insufficient coordinated networking among managers and enforcement officers; Insufficient number of custom officers to enforce law at port of entries; Insufficient expertise to identify products and derivative in international trade, in particular for look-alike species and in situations where fins and other derivatives are transported in large volume or as mixed shipments (e.g. combining CITES listed and non-listed species) without the labelling of individual species; Lack of funds. Improve knowledge of sharks and rays through research and fisheries monitoring; Collect basic socio-economic information and data on relevant shark fisheries and trade; Increase number of enforcement staff; Train customs officials and all other actors in the supply chain in the use of shark identification tools; Promote the use of existing regional wildlife enforcement network in relation to CITES-listed marine species; Effective consultation involving stakeholders in research, management and education; Financial and technical support by CITES Secretariat/other agencies on data collection and training will be very helpful. This could be done in collaboration with Regional Fisheries Body such as SEAFDEC.
MALDIVES Commodity (average 2005-2010) Source: data from Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. *Estimated shark catch based on exports (fin and oil). No data, average for 1963-73 Commercial COMMERCIAL C. longimanus Tonnes USD 000 Shark fins, dried, unsalted 9 159 Shark fins dried, salted 0 0 Shark fins, frozen 7 12 Sharks nei, frozen 14 5 Sharks, dried, salted or in brine 198 140 Total 231 (0,34%) 341 (0,35%) Total all marine fisheries commodities 68,853 96,622 Source: data from Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. Sphyrna sp. Ban on fishing, extracting, capturing and harming any shark species from the entire EEZ of the Maldives effective from March 2010 Prohibited exports of rays and skates products Ban on fishing, extracting, capturing and harming any rays and skates from the Maldives effective from June 2014 Oceanic Whitetips not to be retained and to be released unharmed, to the extent practicable, when caught in association to IOTC regulated fisheries (Resolution IOTC 13/06 2013) PRODUCT FORM Shark bycatch that are landed should have their fins attached and all landed catch should be declared to a fisheries officer, fisheries enforcement officer or to the assigned fisheries observer PARTICIPATORY For the tuna long lining from 100nm onwards, licenses have to be obtained from the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture LIMITS TO Newly introduced quota system for tuna longlining vessels, quota CAPACITY decided by Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture Since the shark fishery ban (2010), all exports of shark products from the Maldives have ceased. The trade, import and export of shark products is allowed and there is a market for imported shark souvenirs, such as shark jaws. However, with rays and skates, there is an export ban imposed on all species of rays and skates NPOA being adopted Import To minimize shark bycatch in the tuna longline fishery the regulation has set the minimum depth the mainline to be deployed at or below 60m Cannot verify the export of shark souvenirs are from imported ones No fisheries observer scheme Lack of trained personnel and training materials Lack of coordination between inter-government agencies Produce user friendly (simple/low-cost/fast) and reliable identification tools for CITES-listed shark species and their products to enable timely procedures by customs and enforcement officers Train customs officials and all other actors in the supply chain in the use of shark identification tools Strengthen regional co-operation amongst stakeholders
MYANMAR Data on landings of shark, rays and chimaeras are not reported to FAO. Some information on shark fisheries and species of sharks catches come from a research carried out in three of the main landing sites in Myanmar in 2004. The research was conducted by the Marine Fishery Resources Survey and Research Unit in collaboration with ACIAR and SEAFDEC. Commodity (average 2006-2011) Import Shark fins, prepared or preserved - - 315 851 Total all marine fisheries commodities 325762 469297 3198 7407 Shark fin are the main target for shark fisheries in Myanmar. Fins are taken from all sizes and all species of sharks and shark-like batoids. The largest export destination for Myanmar shark fin products is China, followed by Thailand and Singapore. NPOA in preparation Sphyrna lewini Sphyrna mokarran LIMITS TO CAPACITY Lampi Island and surrounding islands were established as Marine National Park of Myanmar in 1996 by the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (at that time Ministry of Forestry) under the approval of Government of Myanmar. Since then, Lampi Marine National Park has been conserving and managing under the Protection of Wildlife and Protected Areas Law (1994) and Protection of Wildlife and Protected Areas Rule (2002). Among many other restrictions aimed at the conservartion of the ecosystem, fishing around the two nautical miles from Lampi island low water level shoreline by any vessel is prohibited. Myeik Archipelago, one of the marine richest areas in Myanmar, has been declared as shark protected area in 2004 by Department of Fisheries. Myanmar Marine Fisheries Law 1990 regulates the fishing effort by quotas and seasonally but does not include specific regulations for shark fisheries. Lack of fisheries data (catch, discards, effort) in particular in areas with high species diversity, small-scale fisheries and limited human capacity; Lack of biological and socio-economic information; Fishing community often have a low awareness of the importance of sharks and rays. Improve knowledge of sharks and rays through research and fisheries monitoring; Collect biological information on sharks and ray species and basic socio-economic information on relevant shark fisheries and trade; Conduct more training courses and workshops on biology, taxonomy, ecology and stock assessment of sharks and rays; Develop and implement comprehensive awareness programs; Development of NPOA-Sharks, which address also CITES-listed species.
SRI LANKA TOTAL Commodity (average 2006-2011) Import Sharks nei, fresh or chilled 1 2 6.5 9.3 Sharks nei, frozen 1.5 5.7 25.2 15.7 Total 2.5 (<0.01%) 7.7 (<0.01%) 31.7 (<0.01%) 25.0 (<0.01%) Total all marine fisheries commodities 20 633 174 623 91 696 129 733 NPOA YES C. longimanus Sphyrna spp. Manta spp. PRODUCT FORM PARTICIPATORY OTHERS Thresher shark species belong to family Alopiidae not to be retained and to be released unharmed, to the extent practicable, when caught(prohibition of catching Thresher Shark Regulation 2012) Required landing of fins attached to body. Prohibited finning in fisheries regulated by IOTC. Required to apply a 5% fin-to-body weight ratio for sharks on board vessels up to the first point of landing (Landing of Fish (species of shark and skates) Regulation, 2001) Only fishers in possession of a valid licence issued under the Fishing Operations Regulations of 1996 (published in gazette Extraordinary No 948/25 of November 07, 1996) may land fish belonging to the species of Sharks or Skates. The management of fisheries includes community participation (Fisheries & Aquatic Resources ammended Act No.35 of 2013). Difficulty in the identification of the shark species by fins; Lack of funding for research and management of sharks and rays; Lack of knowledge on behavior, biology, migratory patterns etc. of shark resources among the fishermen on large pelagic on common pool. Introduce by-catch reduction devices (BRD) for protected shark species such as thresher sharks; Provide researchers with the opportunities through national, regional and international training to build their research capabilities on shark fisheries; Awareness of fishermen on importance of conservation and management of sharks.
THAILAND Commodity (average 2006-2011) Tonnes 808 6 273 28 097 68 257 43 72 0 0 491 758 398 1 105 6 837 (0.4%) 29 674 (0.5%) 533 (<0.1%) 2 172 (0.1&) 1 780 099 6 519 856 1 542 062 2 130 372 COMMERCIAL Sphyrna lewini Sphyrna spp.* C. longimanus* PRODUCT FORM (Trawls) TEMPORAL Oceanic whitetip not to be retained and to be released unharmed, to the extent practicable, when caught in association to IOTC regulated fisheries (Resolution IOTC 13/06 2013). Oceanic whitetip fishery and landing prohibited in fisheries regulated by WCPFC (WCPFC CMM 2011-04). Prohibited finning in fisheries regulated by IOTC and WCPFC. Required to apply a 5% fin-to-body weight ratio for sharks on board vessels up to the first point of landing. Prohibition fishing by trawlers and push netters within a distance of 3-5.4 km from the shoreline and within a perimeter of 400 m of any stationary gear through the year. MPAs where all types of fisheries are banned: Aquatic sanctuaries; National Marine Park; Mangrove swamps; Coral reefs areas; Sea grass bed; Environmental protection area. Thailand has 16 designated National Marine Parks, covering a total area of 5,154 km2 (average size 322 km2). The total area under protection represents over 2% of the shelf area. Closed season of 3 months: 15 Feb-15 May in the Gulf of Thailand (cover the area 26,400 km2) and 1 Apr-30 Jun in the Andaman Sea (cover the area 4,696 km2). Required fishing license and boat registration for all types of fisheries. PARTICIPATORY LIMITS TO Freeze of trawling fleet since 1996. CAPACITY USD 000 66 Sharks nei, fresh or chilled Tonnes 745 Shark fins, prepared or preserved Total all marine fisheries commodities USD 000 29 Shark fins, dried, salted, etc. Sharks nei, frozen Total Import NPOA YES (under revision) Lack of programmes for awareness raising; Lack of database system for stock assessment and management shark and ray resources; Funding for shark research and CITES implementation is very limited. Develop and implement comprehensive awareness programs; Train customs officials and all other actors in the supply chain in the use of shark identification tools; Invite recipient countries to prioritize CITES implementation in their request for capacity building assistance to donors. *this species is rare